Record number of bodies found at foot of Mount Fuji

A record 78 bodies were found last year in forest at the foot of Japan's national icon, Mount Fuji, which is known as the country's suicide mecca, police said today.

They blamed the nation's protracted economic slump for the increasing number of bodies found.

"Recession probably has something to do with it. Also maybe more people are hiking and exploring in the area and finding more bodies," said an official with the Fuji-Yoshida police station in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo.

The bodies were found by hikers in the Aokigahara forest, which covers the footslopes of Fuji.

The previous record was 73 bodies found in 1998, the official said. ");document.write("

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"Until several years ago, we used to find about 50 to 60 bodies annually," he said.

Located 100km west of Tokyo, the dense forest has historically been known as a place where desperate people went to kill themselves.

The Yamanashi police and rescue officials used to search the forest for bodies several times a year.

But they stopped organised searches two years ago to focus their resources on suicide prevention, the police official said.